India suspends purchases of Russian oil after Trump’s ultimatum: details
India’s state-owned oil refiners have temporarily halted purchases of Russian oil after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that continue to buy energy from Moscow, signaling Washington’s mounting pressure on New Delhi amid escalating trade disputes.
This is reported by Reuters and Bloomberg .
According to journalists, over the past week, Indian state-owned refiners — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Mangalore Refinery (MRPL) — have not placed any new requests for Russian oil. Instead, they are looking for an alternative on the spot market, buying grades from the Middle East and West Africa, in particular Murban crude oil from Abu Dhabi.
As is known, India is the world’s third largest oil importer and the largest buyer of Russian marine oil. After the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the share of Russian oil in India’s imports increased to more than a third, although until 2022 it did not exceed 1%.
On July 14, Donald Trump publicly threatened 100% tariffs on countries that continued to buy Russian oil unless Moscow agreed to a “grand peace deal” on Ukraine. This led to discussions in New Delhi about finding a compromise with the White House to avoid sanctions and not disrupt trade talks.
Private Indian oil refiners — Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy — remain the largest importers of Russian oil, but it is state-owned companies that control over 60% of the country’s oil refining capacity (5.2 million barrels per day).
Analysts warn that suspending purchases from Russia could lead to rising import costs due to more expensive alternatives, and will also increase political pressure on Narendra Modi’s government ahead of a new round of talks with Washington.
It is worth adding that US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of new tariffs for India : from August 1, the country will have to pay 25%. He explained that India buys most of its military equipment from Russia and, together with China, is one of the largest consumers of Russian energy.
Earlier,US President Donald Trump said that Russia has 10 days to reach an agreement on the war in Ukraine . If it refuses, Washington will introduce new economic restrictions, including tariffs. Later, the Kremlin said that it takes into account US President Trump’s statements, but is not afraid of threats, because Russia has “immunity” against sanctions.
As reported, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that India will be able to meet its oil needs from alternative sources if Russian supplies are cut off by US sanctions.
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